The New Computer

I ordered a new HP computer for my daughter, and got it the other day from Fed Ex. The computer is great and works perfectly. There is only one complaint I have about it. In the past, when you purchase a new computer, they usually come with some sort of "Recovery" software, which you use to re-format your computer to be like it was the day you got it. That way, if it crashed, you could use the recovery disk to re-install all the factory settings, reset your operating system, or just clear personal information from the hard drive so you could sell or donate your computer, or avoid tax evasion and conspiracy charges, etc. Let me put it this way... My computer has had so many viruses, that I feel like I should be wearing a condom and rubber gloves whenever I use it.












Any-hoo... This is the second computer I have bought that makes you "Create" the disks yourself when you get the computer. I think Slim Pickens (X) in Blazing Saddles said it best: "What in the Wide, Wide World of Sports is a-goin' on here?"


To create these recovery disks... It takes 14 blank CDs (19 on the computer I got before this one). Or two or three blank DVDs if you have a DVD Writer (more on that in a minute). Of course, you always have the "option" of going to the manufacturer's website and "purchasing" (oh, the nerve...) a set of recovery disks... What dicks! It usually takes about 45 minutes to an hour to make these disks, not to mention the added cost of the disks.

I bought a computer three years ago that came with recovery disks, and I just can't understand why they wouldn't still come with the computer. Maybe its just a Hewlett Packard deal, I don't know. The computer was the the cheapest I could find (upgrades and quality VS. price), so I guess they got to make it up somewhere.

What really got me mad about this, though, was the fact that with the computer I purchased before this one (about a year and a half ago), I had no idea that it didn't come with a recovery disk until I needed it (about a year later). There was no annoying, on-screen message that said, "Hey numb-nuts, do you want to make a set of recovery disks in case this thing takes a dump?" Instead, only "...try this anti-virus-no-spam-pop-up-blocker-security-salve" thingy that you can use free for a few months or a year, then you have to pay for it. It still comes up every couple weeks (I don't know how to disable it), but it can kiss my boot.


When I finally discovered that the recovery disks weren't in the little baggie of goodies and generic paperwork that came with my computer and I got confused and angry. I used the "restore" option and tried to get my computer back to a point in time when it was working correctly, but there was something still not right about the way it was working. That's when I found the "Make Recovery Disks" option.

Instead of using the 19 CDs required, I decided to use two DVDs to make the disks. It seemed easy enough, but when I tried to make the disks, halfway through writing on my first DVD, there was an error, and the Recovery Disk program spit out my DVD and closed. Great. So, I re-booted my computer and tried it again. Same result. Now, I am out two blank DVDs (not real cheap) and I still don't have the disks, so I wind up trying it out with the CDs and three disks into the process, and it quits again, ruining the CDs.

So this is when I go the the HP website and discover that you have to "buy" the disks from them. I think I was unable to make the disks because there was some kind of virus on my computer that was messing up the process or something. It could have been all the stuff I installed after buying it that caused a registry problem. I just don't know. I got that computer up and running again, but I still don't have disks for it.

I have owned eight computers in my life, starting with an Atari 800XL that I got when I was 12. Every time I get a new one, its an adventure for sure. I have noticed also, that when you buy computers and parts nowadays, they don't come with any manuals or detailed instruction. Just some giant piece of paper with pretty colors and pictures so a retarded monke(y,e) could get the thing hooked up and turned on. They usually do, however, come with a CD that has the manual stored on it somewhere (in the case of computer parts), and the computer usually has a link to a "Help" program somewhere on it. I guess they just expect this to be common knowledge anymore. By the way... I like the Monkees, even if they are retarded.